System and method for compact disc presentation of video movies

ABSTRACT

A method for converting video movie (e.g., family video movie or the like) clips for computer presentation in multi-media format using compact discs by presenting on, a computer screen a starting frame of each of desired video clips. Each starting frame of each of the desired video clips is made into a thumbnail image or picture (e.g., a reduced size video picture of the start of a certain video clip) for viewing on a computer screen. A plurality of thumbnail images or pictures are then set in a presentable format; and background sound or music is created for each of the video clips, if desired. Upon presentation of a plurality of thumbnail images or pictures on the computer screen, a user is capable of selecting and clicking a desired thumbnail image or picture in order to play a video clip corresponding to a selected one of the plurality of thumbnail images or pictures.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention generally relates to a method for compact discpresentation of video movies. Such apparatus and method of thisinvention convert video movie (e.g., family video movie or the like)clips for computer presentation in multi-media format using compactdiscs. More particularly, a family video movie is captured and digitizedinto the hard drive of a computer. The video clips are edited; and astarting frame of each of the video clips is made into a thumbnail imageor picture (e.g., a reduced size video picture of the start of a certainvideo clip) for viewing on a computer screen. A plurality of thumbnailimages or pictures are then set in a presentable format. Backgroundsound or music is created for each of the video clips, if desired. Aunique program is then created to provide an interactive multimediapresentation of the thumbnail pictures, along with their correspondingvideo clips. The files are stored into recordable compact disc for easyuse; and the disc is then labeled.

[0003] 2. Description of the Relevant Art

[0004] The traditional manner for viewing movie clips, in a traditionalmultimedia presentation, with the use of a video tape player imposestime-consuming fast forward and rewind searches of a film segment ofinterest.

[0005] At present, there are numerous commercially available videocapture cards and programs that capture video tape playback, and storethe corresponding film in digital format with a personal computer.Likewise, there are numerous compact disc recorders available forstoring information, including digitized video clips.

[0006] However, without an organized program to present the movie videoclips, a user or viewer must painstakingly search for the individualvideo clips. To a user's dismay, this task is fairly complex, andtime-consuming.

[0007] A need was therefore felt to significantly ease the process ofshowing desired movie video clips by showing such desired movie clips ona computer screen in a multimedia format and in a clickable format usinga compact disc medium.

[0008] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide amethod for compact disc presentation of video movies on a computerscreen in a multimedia format and in a clickable format.

[0009] It is another object of the present invention to provide a methodfor compact disc presentation of video movies in which a video movie iscaptured and digitized into a hard drive of a computer, and edited,wherein a starting frame of each desired video clip is made into athumbnail picture and set in a presentable format.

[0010] It is another object of this invention to provide a method forcompact disc presentation of video movies in which a user or viewer canchoose which segment or segments of a video movie to play by clicking ona thumbnail image or picture of a first frame of a desired video clipsegment on a computer screen, the desired video clip having a startingframe thereof in the form of the thumbnail image or picture.

[0011] It is yet another object of the present invention to provide amethod for compact disc presentation of video movies in which backgroundsound or music is created in each desired video clip.

[0012] It is still another object of the present invention to provide amethod for compact disc presentation of video movies with a computerprogram for providing an interactive multimedia presentation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0013] The aforementioned and other objects of the present invention areaccomplished by providing an apparatus and a method for converting videomovie (e.g.. family video movie or the like) clips for computerpresentation in multi-media format using compact discs by presenting ona computer screen a starting frame of each of desired video clips. Eachstarting frame of each of the desired video clips is made into athumbnail image or picture (e.g., a reduced size video picture of thestart of a certain video clip) for viewing on a computer screen. Aplurality of thumbnail images or pictures are then set in a presentableformat; and background sound or music is created for each of the videoclips, if desired. Upon presentation of a plurality of thumbnail imagesor pictures on the computer screen, a user is capable of selecting andclicking a desired thumbnail image or picture in order to play a videoclip corresponding to a selected one of the plurality of thumbnailimages or pictures.

[0014] These and other features of the invention will be understood uponreading of the following description along with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015]FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the apparatus and method for use inproviding compact disc presentation of video movies with the creation inthis invention of thumbnail images or pictures set in a presentableformat on a computer screen;

[0016]FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method for creating the thumbnailimages or pictures set in a presentable format for use in the discpresentation of the video movies of this invention;

[0017]FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for providing the discpresentation of the video movies of this invention after the thumbnailimages or pictures for use thereof have been created;

[0018]FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating more detailed method steps forStep S10, shown in FIG. 3; and

[0019]FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the thumbnail images or pictures setin a presentable format on a computer screen for use in the discpresentation of the video movies of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0020]FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the apparatus and method for use inproviding compact disc presentation of video movies with the creation inthis invention of thumbnail images or pictures set in a presentableformat on a computer screen. Illustrated in FIG. 1 is a movie video taperecorder 10 coupled to a video capture card 20, which in turn is coupledto a personal computer 30. The video capture card 20 is preferably aBravado video capture card with Adobe Premiere 4.2 software. Thepersonal computer 30 is, for example, an IBM Pentium II 266 Mhz 48RAMpersonal computer. Standard RCA cables 15 are attached to the inputjacks 18 of the video capture card 20 and the output jacks 13 of thevideo tape recorder 13.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 2, the video capture card 20 is installed into aPCI expansion slot in the personal computer 30 (S1). A video tape isthen played in the video tape recorder 10 (S2) and captured into a harddisk of the personal computer 30 (S3). A captured video film is thenseparated into many segments by editing with Adobe Premiere software(S4). These are stored in “.avi” format (S5).

[0022] The first frame of each segment of video film clips is thenstored as a “.bmp” format (S6) and re-sized with an image software orPaint Shop Pro software (S7). These will be the thumbnail images orpictures used to visually guide a user into selecting the correspondingvideo clip that is desired by the user.

[0023] The sound track of a segment of a video clip can be transformedinto “.wav” format by the Adobe Premiere software (S8). The backgroundsound or music is played as the thumbnail pictures are presented to theuser.

[0024] A program or application is then created using MicrosoftDevelopment Studio in Visual C++ to show the collated thumbnail imagesor pictures, as well as the corresponding video clips and backgroundsound or music thereof. This program provides for presentation themultiple thumbnail images or pictures and video clips in an interactiveformat. FIG. 3 illustrates a general flowchart for showing the creationof such a program.

[0025] As illustrated in FIG. 3, a compact disc (CD) is inserted into aPC CD-ROM Drive (with CD recorder) (S9) so that the created program,along with the corresponding video clips, thumbnail images or pictureswith background music or sound, and a “self-starting” command arerecorded in the CD. It is preferred that a Philips Omniwriter CDrecorder be used. The program, in the CD, automatically starts (S10);and the user merely clicks on any of the buttons relating to thethumbnail pictures or images T1-T6 (see, FIG. 5) corresponding to thefirst frame of a desired video clip to view that video clip segment onthe computer screen (S11). The user may manually stop, rewind or replayany video clip, and has instantaneous access to any video clip at anytime.

[0026] It is noted that the operating system needed to view the CD,having the above-discussed program therein, is Windows 95 or Windows 98.The computer system for use to view such CD is preferably a multimediacomputer with a Pentium or similar processor, a CD-rom drive with videoand sound capabilities.

[0027] The creation of the program installed in the CD in Step S10 isdiscussed hereinafter in reference to FIG. 4.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 4, the program creation starts by startingMicrosoft Development Studio in, preferably, the same computer describedabove (S20). A new project workspace of Microsoft Foundation ClassAppWizard type is named MOVIE VIEWER (or any preferred name) and created(S21). A dialog-based application framework is chosen with 3D controls(S22). A Microsoft Development Studio program then creates a framework(S23), where additional commands are written to incorporate thethumbnail images or pictures, buttons, background sound or music andvideo clips (S24). Three additional files are included into the projectworkspace; namely, “Dibapi.cpp”, “Dibapi.h” and “Myfile.cpp”. The firsttwo files are part of a Microsoft Foundation Class Visual C++ library,while the last file is a source file for presenting Device IndependentBitmaps. The project is then linked to a “vfw32.lib” library module(S25). The Mircosoft Development Studio then creates the followingfiles: “MOVIE VIEWERDlg.cpp”, “MOVIE VIEWERDlg.h” and resource files(S26).

[0029] Hereinafter, the files created by Microsoft Development Studioare modified, as shown in the attached complete program. That isdialog-based source files and buttons are created to correspond to eachthumbnail picture or image and video clip (S27). After the source filesare created, they are compiled and linked by Microsoft DevelopmentStudio (S28). Then, an application “MOVIE VIEWER.exe” is created andtested (S29). Once tested and working, the application name is changed.In this case, it is changed to “HERE.exe” (S30). A Notepad file iscreated (S31), and is entitled “autorun.inf” (S32). The contents of suchnotepad file are as follows: [autorun] and open=HERE.exe. Such notepadfile is incorporated into the CD (S33) in order to allow the user'spersonal computer to automatically start the program “HERE.exe” once itis loaded into the CD-rom drive.

[0030] Once the program is successfully created, it is recordedpermanently into a recordable CD, using, preferably, a PhilipsOmniwriter (S34). Associated thumbnail images or pictures, labels,background sound and music and video clips are recorded into theCD(S35); and the autorun file are likewise recorded into the CD (S36).

[0031] While the invention has been particularly shown and described inreference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood bythose skilled in the art that changes in form and details may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

1. A method for compact disc presentation of a video movie, comprisingthe steps of: providing a video movie for presentation; selecting atleast one thumbnail image or picture of a frame of said video movie fromwhich to start the playing of said video movie: and presenting on ascreen said at least one thumbnail image or picture of said video moviefrom which to start the playing of said video movie.
 2. The method as inclaim 1, further comprising the step of: clicking said at least onethumbnail image or picture of said frame of said video movie; andplaying said video movie starting from said frame represented by saidthumbnail image or picture.
 3. A system for compact disc presentation ofa video movie, comprising: means for playing a video movie forpresentation; means for selecting at least one thumbnail image orpicture of a frame of said video movie from which to start the playingof said video movie; and means for presenting on a screen said at leastone thumbnail image or picture of said video movie from which to startthe playing of said video movie.
 4. The system as in claim 3, furthercomprising: means for clicking said at least one thumbnail image orpicture of said video movie, and playing said video movie starting fromsaid frame represented by said thumbnail image or picture.
 5. A systemfor playing a video movie stored in a compact disc, comprising: meansfor playing a video movie for presentation; means for selecting at leastone thumbnail image or picture of a frame of said video movie from whichto start the playing of said video movie; and means for presenting on ascreen said at least one thumbnail image or picture of said video moviefrom which to start the playing of said video movie.
 6. The system as inclaim 5, further comprising: means for clicking said at least onethumbnail image or picture of said video movie, and playing said videomovie starting from said frame represented by said thumbnail image orpicture.
 7. The method as in claim 1, wherein the selecting stepincludes the step of selecting at least one thumbnail or picture of afirst frame of a desired video clip segment within said video movie, andwherein the presenting step includes the step of presenting on saidscreen said at least one thumbnail image or picture of said first frameof said desired video clip segment within said video movie.
 8. Thesystem as in claim 3, wherein the means for selecting includes the meansfor selecting at least one thumbnail or picture of a first frame of adesired video clip segment within said video movie, and wherein themeans for presenting includes the means for presenting on said screensaid at least one thumbnail image or picture of said first frame of saiddesired video clip segment within said video movie.
 9. The system as inclaim 5, wherein the means for selecting includes the means forselecting at least one thumbnail or picture of a first frame of adesired video clip segment within said video movie, and wherein themeans for presenting includes the means for presenting on said screensaid at least one thumbnail image or picture of said first frame of saiddesired video clip segment within said video movie.